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A Tribute to His Memory. 

[From The American Hebrew, Nov. 20, 1903] 

The tragic death of the "Father of Greater New 
York" has created a profound sense of loss in the com- 
munity for whose welfare he so incessantly labored for 
half a century. Though not holding office at the time 
of his death, he has been repeatedly called the city's 
"first citizen," and Mayor Low certainly echoed a uni- 
versal sentiment in referring to his death as "a public 
calamity." Mr. Green's indomitable energy made the 
story of his life to a great degree the history of the 
municipal life of his beloved city and there was hardly 
a department therein which he did not effect for the 
better. On public matters, his utterances were recorded 
with deep respect by the daily press almost up to the 
day of his death and he was generally regarded as a 
venerable exponent of the nobility of American Citizen- 
ship. His loss will be mourned by his fellow citizens, 
irrespective of race or creed, and the Jewish community 
loses in him a warm friend, one who, free from all relig- 
ious prejudice himself, frequently took occasion to dis- 
pel it in others. 

Benjamin Franklin is said to have defined the road 
to success in life, as the doing of something worth 
writing or writing something worth reading. Mr. Green 
chose the former, he was a fearless worker for the 
public good and his achievements rather than the pro- 

1 



ducts of his pen will be his strongest claim to the 
memory of posterity. 

Space will not permit a recital of the details of his 
career nor is this the place for so doing. That will be 
the work of the historian of the metropolis. Born at 
Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1820, Mr. Green came 
from Puritan stock and of revolutionary ancestry. His 
early education was obtained at Worcester Military 
Academy, and in 1835, he came to New York, entering 
upon a mercantile career. Later he spent some time 
in the West Indies but returned to New York and 
studied law in the office of his distinguished friend, 
Samuel J. Tilden, whose partner he subsequently be- 
came. His public career commenced in 1854 when he 
became a member of the Board of Education, of which 
body he subsequently became the President. A firm 
believer in the great destiny of New York, he was far 
in advance of his generation in advocating nearly half 
a century ago, many of the improvements and institu- 
tions which we now enjoy. To him more than to any 
other individual, perhaps, the city owes the creation of 
Central Park, the Museum of Natural History, the 
Zoological Gardens, Riverside and Morningside Parks, 
our Boulevards and many other similar works. 

In the dark days of the Tweed regime, Mr. Green 
was the powerful co-worker of Samuel J. Tilden in the 
great work of cleansing the city from corruption. His 
invaluable services as Comptroller of the city's finances, 
following the destruction of the " Tweed Ring," have 
been too often recorded to need repetition here. As 
early as 1868 he originated the plan for uniting the 
municipalities about the port of New York into one 
great city, and though derided as a visionary at the 
time, he lived to see that vision realized, largely through 

2 

Author. 

(Person). 

4 Ja ? C4 



his own persistent efforts. His was also the privilege 
of assisting in framing the charter for the Greater New 
Vork. 

In Mr. Green's death the Museum of Art, the Juven- 
ile Asylum, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty 
to Children, the Geographical Society and many other 
philanthropic and learned associations lose a valuable 
director and wise counsellor. The study of history 
strongly appealed to him, and he firmly believed it to 
be the duty of every community to preserve and mark 
as far as possible the places associated with its early 
history. He thus became the founder and president of 
the Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, which 
has done so much in that regard throughout the city 
and State. 

The Jewish community has an additional tribute for 
the man beyond his services to our city in general. In 
him we lose a friend who throughout his life displayed 
a deep interest in Jewish affairs and who was on terms 
of intimate friendship with many men of the Jewish 
race. 

Mr. Green's friendship for the Jewish people came 
to him partly, it may be said, by inheritance. His 
ancestors had been among the early settlers of Leices- 
ter, Massachusetts, though his grandfather, Dr. John 
Green, resided at Green Hill, Worcester, which was also 
the country home of his distinguished grandson. In 
1777, after Newport had fallen into the hands of the 
British, quite a number of patriot Jews removed and 
settled at Leicester. Including their servants, they 
numbered about seventy persons. Of these, Washburn, 
in his history of the town, speaks as follows : 

'* Though differing from their neighbors in matters 
of religious faith, they won the confidence and esteem 

3 



of all by their upright and honorable dealing, the kind- 
liness and courtesy of their intercourse and the liberal- 
ity and public spirit which they evinced as citizens. 

" They remained here until the ratification of Peace 
in 1783, when they returned to Newport, carrying with 
them the respect and kind regard of a community with 
which they had been intimately associated for six 
years." 

The most influential of these Jews was Aaron Lopez, 
one of the merchant princes of New England in his day, 
whose prominence and charity are referred to by con- 
temporary New England writers. Between Lopez and 
Dr. Green there sprang up a warm friendship, which 
continued until the former's untimely death in 1782. 
Before the proposed departure for Rhode Island, Lopez 
presented his friend with a locust tree which still stands 
on the Green Estate at Worcester, and I well remember 
the pleasure with which Mr. Andrew H. Green spoke 
of his ownership of this souvenir of the friendship be- 
tween his grandfather and the Jewish merchant. This 
subject was written up at length for the Jewish Com- 
ment in 1901, by the Hon. N. Taylor Phillips, himself 
one of Mr. Green's closest personal friends. 

With traditions like these, it is not strange that upon en- 
tering his public career in New York he soon numbered 
men of Jewish race among his intimate associates. 
The writer recalls his frequent mention of the father of 
Mr. N. Taylor Phillips, with whom Mr. Green said he 
had been associated in the Board of Education, 
and also the pleasure with which he recalled his 
frequent visits, many years ago, to the old syna- 
gogue of the Spanish and Portuguese Congregation 
on Crosby Street. It was with some pride, too, 
that Mr. Green would speak of the part he took in the 

4 



consecration ceremonies and in connection with the 
lighting of the Eternal Lamp in the 19th Street Syna- 
gogue and how he had preserved throughout these 
many years the taper with which that ceremony had 
been performed. He also attended the consecration of 
the present edifice of the same congregation at 70th 
Street and Central Park West. 

He loved to view events in their relation to his 
beloved city, and I remember how, in the course of a 
conversation, he once remarked that lie frequently 
measured the wonderful growth of the city by the 
up-town moves of the Portuguese synagogue, from 
Crosby to 19th Street and again to 70th Street. 
Throughout the years he, retained the warmest interest 
in the historic occasions of this congregation. Many 
of its members will no doubt recall how at the Centen- 
nial Anniversary of the Hebra Hased Va Amet, which 
took place on a cold and disagreeable March evening 
in 1902, Mr. Green then over 81 years of age attended 
the celebration ceremonies. 

There was a deep sense of reverence in his character, 
and his interest in Jewish ceremonies may no dou^tbe 
traced to early Puritanic influences. On the evening 
mentioned he requested a prayer book and reverently 
followed the service in the English translation. 

With the early history of the Jews of New York, Mr. 
Green was well familiar. Some years ago it was my 
great privilege to propose his name for membership to 
the American Jewish Historical Society, of which he 
was a member at the time of his death. To its funds 
he also made a generous contribution, and its publica- 
tions found in him an appreciative reader. 

Long before the subject was mentioned elsewhere 
Mr. Green spoke of the prqpriety of marking, with 

5 



appropriate tablets, places of Jewish interest, on the 
ground that they were part and parcel of our city's 
history. When, later on, and partly due to his generous 
interest, the American Jewish Historical Society 
appointed a committee for that purpose, he suggested 
the co-operation of the Scenic and Historic Preservation 
Society, and when the liberality of another gentleman 
made it possible to defray the expense for marking the 
oldest cemetery in New York, the old Jewish Burial 
Ground on New Bowery, it gave him keen pleasure to 
interest his Society. At his own instance it was, that 
the latter appointed a committee to join with the former 
in making an appropriate memorial. Those who were 
present at the unveiling of the tablet may recall the 
splendid address prepared by him for the occasion, 
which was read by Col. Henry W. Sackett. He recalled 
in appropriate language the history of the Jews of the 
City since 1654, their services during the Revolution, 
the fact that the congregation had closed its synagogue 
rather than continue under British auspices, and the 
disinterested patriotism of Haym Salomon, who had 
advanced a great fortune to the American cause, which 
has never been repaid. 

It may not be amiss to quote the concluding portion 
of his address on that occasion. 

" The debt which the Government has never paid in 
dollars let us freely acknowledge in words of gratitude, 
and yield our tribute of appreciation to those loyal and 
generous men of the Hebrew faith who helped our fore- 
fathers win the liberties which the people of every faith 
and from every clime now enjoy under the flag of our 

country I venture to express the hope that this 

tablet which our two societies are about to erect to 
mark the place where people of the Hebrew faith were 

6 



first laid to rest in American soil will serve as a token 
of the hospitality, freedom and toleration with which 
the United States should entertain people of all nations 
and beliefs — a reminder of our duty as Americans to 
our fellow citizens, and a bond to draw us all together 
more closely in the kindly relations of friendly mutual 
regard." 

Mr. Green's interest in Jewish affairs may be said to 
have continued almost to the day of his death. Despite 
his great age, his mental activity was unabated, and he 
kept himself informed on all current topics. Just before 
leaving for the country in the present year, he spoke of 
the proposed Jewish Juvenile Asylum concerning which 
he had noticed items in the daily press. In the course 
of a conversation he particularly inquired the names of 
the gentlemen who were furthering the project, saying 
that the New York Juvenile Asylum, of which he was 
a director, had been taught a number of lessons by 
bitter experience, and he was anxious to have the new 
institution avoid the mistakes that had been made in 
the past. 

His long and useful life is now ended. May the 
memory of his career serve to bind Jew and Gentile 
closer together for the realization of American ideals 
and of true American citizenship. 

Leon Huhner. 
November 18, 1903. 



